Track Listing

1. La Ronde des Lutins, scherzo fantastique for violin & piano, Op. 25
2. An einsamer Quelle, for piano, Op. 9/2 (TrV 127/2)
3. Polonaise (No. 1) de concert, for violin & orchestra in D major, Op. 4
4. Meditation for violin & piano in D major, Op. 32
5. Scherzo-tarantelle, for violin & piano in G minor, Op. 16
6. L'Enfant prodigue, scène lyrique for voices & orchestra, L. 57: Prelude
7. Suite española No. 1, for piano, Op. 47, B. 7: No.3: Sevillañas
8. La capricieuse -- morceau de genre, for violin & piano, Op. 17
9. Guitarre, for piano, Op. 45/2
10. Danza Espanola, for orchestra (from 'La Vida Breve')
11. Tallahassee Suite, for violin & piano, Op. 73/4: No.1: Bygone memories
12. Ruralia Hungarica, pieces (3) for violin & piano, Op. 32c: No.6: Gypsy Andante
13. Pieces (6) in the form of canons, for piano, Op. 156: No 5, Valse
14. Trois mouvements perpétuels, for piano, FP 14: No.1
15. Hora Staccato for violin & piano (or orchestra)
16. Sonata for violin & continuo in A major, Op. 2/2, RV 31: Preludio
17. Sonata for violin & continuo in A major, Op. 2/2, RV 31: Capriccio
18. Sonata for violin & continuo in A major, Op. 2/2, RV 31: Corrente
19. Sonata for violin & continuo in A major, Op. 2/2, RV 31: Recitativo
20. Sonata for violin & continuo in A major, Op. 2/2, RV 31: Giga
21. Caprice for solo violin in B flat major ('The Devil's Chuckle'), Op. 1/13, MS 25/13
22. English Suite, for keyboard No. 3 in G minor, BWV 808 (BC L15): Gavott I & II (Musette)
23. Sonata for violin & piano in A major, M. 8: Allegretto poco mosso

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133219 in Music
• Released on: 1999-02-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

Wonderful recordings by the young Jascha Heifetz
These old (1920s) recordings are amazing in the modernity of Heifetz's musical conception and style, as well as in the reliability of his technique. They are among those recordings with which Heifetz created an entirely new aesthetic and technical standard for violin playing, a standard that is controlling to this day. He simply moved violin playing into the modern age. For example, the way Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Hilary Hahn play violin (strong, smooth, even tone; total technical reliability; carefully restrained emotion; the complete ease and understatement with which even the most difficult passages are mastered) is simply inconceivable without the pervasive influence exerted by Jascha Heifetz. And these recordings let us witness how he did it, how he single-handedly revolutionized violin playing (and, together with Toscanin and Horowitz, classical music in general). It's great stuff, and in many ways he is better, more exciting to listen to, than all those that had the misfortune of coming after him. The review below is exceptionally silly for taking Heifetz to task for minor technical issues. When he recorded these pieces, there was no splicing, no re-recording passages that didn't work out so well, no electronic tricks. not only are these recordings essential to the history of musical interpretation, they're also simply great fun to listen to.

Perfect
The sound quality is perfect. Not "good considering...", but perfect, period. The music is marvelous. The virtuosity is stunning. Heifetz (and then Perlman) is my favorite. And then Horowitz on the piano and Sumi Jo soprano. In case you were wondering. As someone said about Midori's performance of Paganini's caprices, they knock the others into the pavement! I can't recommend this CD highly enough.

Not Up to Par
Heifetz is one of my idols, but sadly enough, he disappoints me here. His La Ronde de Lutins is quite bad. He misses the D harmonics, and tends to be overpowered by Emanuel Bay, his pianist. He tends towards an unnecessary accelerando when playing the F sharp on all four strings. His double artificial harmonics following this passage aren't always clear, nor played as a chord. The song goes smoothly for a while, then you get to the pizzicato section. His pizzicato isn't loud enough to overpower the piano, which is playing annoyingly loud. Antonio Bazzini was a violinist himself, but never really enjoyed the fame of Paganini or Sarasate or Heifetz. He preferred to compose. He went to the Padua school of music and taught such greats as Puccini. Although his music sounds nothing like theirs, I don't really like Strauss' works, but this one I found to be nice. It is melodic and grows on you. You really love this piece after a while. The Concert Polonaise by Wieniawski is one of my favorites. An exercise in virtuosity tempered with delightful melodies. Heifetz as usual, takes it at a blazing speed. Interestingly enough, you don't notice it until the song is over. This is performed as Wieniawski would have performed it - with class and with speed. I have another recording by Aaron Rosand in which he has an orchestra accompanying him. I really like that. The Meditation by Glazunov is really romantic and dreamy. It is a great way to relax and Heifetz interprets this song beautifully. The only setback of this track is the hiss. If you are a person that likes "white noise", you won't be bothered by it. I don't believe in "white noise". For me, the hiss distracts me from the music. The Scherzo - Tarantelle is a real show off piece with little to no musicality. I like it because it is fast and catchy. L'enfant Prodigue is a song with many layers. Superficially it is very nice, but the deeper you go into it, the better it gets. Debussy was a phenomenal composer who helped with the leap from the Romantic era to the Modern era. But, he did it with grace. His early opus numbers are romantic, but as the opus numbers increase, so does the number of new stylistic devises. I love Spanish music, and Albeniz is one of my favorite Spanish composers. The song is a light song that drifts gaily through the air, infecting all that hear it with a sudden happiness. It is truly a wonderful piece. Elgar is a great composer for the violin. He wrote a truly magnificent concerto for the violin that is filled with passion. His La Capricieuse is a great encore piece. It also has a lot of musical value for violinists. If you want to learn how to do really good up bow or down bow staccato, this is a must play piece. The introduction is really stiff, and you don't want to welcome this music, but before you know it, you love it. Moritz Moszkowski was a great composer. His Guitarre, transcribed by Sarasate has become a solid piece in the violin literature. He plays it for all it's worth and doesn't flub a single note. The harmonics are pristine and float above the rest of the music, like it's supposed to. The Danza Espanola Number one is my favorite. It is really mysterious in the beginning, and then flourishes into a lively dance. The ending starts softly, then grows louder and louder to grand triumphant conclusion. The one sad thing about this is the background noise. I am not a fan of modern composers, and the Tallahassee Suite did not really appeal to my ear buds. It was nice, but lacked the depth of the romantic era. The Ruralia Hungarica is a nice song. When I close my eyes, I feel as if I'm in a whirlpool being swirled in sound. Laugh if you want, but it's the truth. The Valse by Castelnuovo - Tedesco is a song that appeals to a selective few. I am not one of those few. I find the notes to be strewn all over the place. The movement perpetuels have a delightful simple tune that just struck me a s genious. How someone make such a catchy tune that uses very few notes? Well, he does. Hora Staccato is a great song that became Heifetz's trademark. This is a good recording, except for the scratchiness in some of his down bow staccato. RCA Victor released the same recording on their CD "Heifetz Violin Greatest Hits". The Vivaldi Sonata was a bit of a disappointment because I remembered the Four Seasons and the virtuoso solo parts. Then, I realized that the Four Seasons was a later composition when he was much stronger technically. This sonata was short brief, but catchy. I think that Heifetz misses most of the musical content in it though. Paganini was the greatest technician that ever lived. Born with Marfan's syndrome, he nearly died at birth. His health was constantly bad, but he continued on. His amazingly elastic fingers allowed him to perform the most impossible feats on the violin. His 13th caprice starts out sounding like a person laughing. The fast section is pretty well played. He misses the chords though, and his attempts to reach them sound really scratchy. I much prefer the one played by Michael Rabin. That one is perfect. The Bach English Suite is pretty nice. The second part is well known Suzuki student. I really don't like it that much though. Cesar Frank was an organist. His Symphony is supposed to be like an organ, in the sense that there are no breaks. His Sonata is very nice. It flows and is very violinistic, meaning that it seems like it was made for the violin. It is really catchy and almost is at a walking speed.

Finally, if you have read my entire review, I congratulate you. Apart from that, unless you like music by Schoenberg or Berg, you won't appreciate this CD to it's full worth.